The Echo Dot 3 Wall Mount by Dot Genie is now available for those of you with the new 3rd-gen Echo Dot who want to hang your speaker from an outlet. The mount uses the stock power adapter that comes with the Echo Dot and, at just $8.99, it’s the least expensive mount available on Amazon. If you order quickly, you might end up getting 2 for the price of 1 because the creator is running a promotion where he’s throwing in a second mount for free with all orders that are placed during the product’s first 24-hours of availability. The mount is available in both black and white. I’ve written about Dot Genie’s products in the past, so just to be clear, I’m not paid or compensated in any way by them to write these posts. I just have a soft spot for “one-man-shops,” like myself, who are trying to make a living, and it just so happens that their products are actually quite nice and very affordable. Update: I’ve been told that the 2-for-1 deal will end tonight at 9pm PT. Orders placed before then will receive double the number of mounts purchased.

The all-new 3rd-gen Amazon Echo Dot is out and it is a shockingly impressive device. Even though it’s only slightly larger than the previous model, it sounds so much better than the old Echo Dot that you likely wouldn’t regret upgrading for the significantly better audio alone. On top of the better audio, you’re also getting a much more attractive device. Here’s an overview of the Echo Dot 3. Read more ›

Amazon has announced a new 3rd-generation Echo Dot. The new model has a fabric outer casing and a softer rounded appearance covered in fabric that is much more attractive than the plastic Echo Dot it replaces. It’s available to pre-order for $49.99 on its own and you’ll automatically save $10 at checkout if you order two of the new Echo Dots. Read more ›

Above are images of what is allegedly a new 3rd-generation Amazon Echo Dot that will be released later this year, according to French publications Numerama and FrAndroid. The device is codenamed “Donut,” which follows the round food theme of Amazon’s past Echo Dot codenames, which were Pancake (1st-gen) and Biscuit (2nd-gen). The new Echo Dot is currently being tested by Amazon employees and is said to have superior sound quality, compared to the current generation Echo Dot. Read more ›

Amazon’s Echo devices are now available to pre-order in France. The Amazon Echo will regularly be €99.99 and the Echo Dot will be €59.99. Both will arrive at customer’s doors on June 13th. The Echo Spot is also being made available for €129.99 but it won’t ship until next month on July 23rd. Prices are being discounted for a limited time during launch. Ordering now will land you 50% off all devices. Once the new devices arrive, France will have localized skills from brands like Netatmo, Philips Hue, Uber, Domino’s Pizza, TP-Link, Franceinfo, Legrand, and La Fourchette. Other Alexa-enabled devices will be coming to France from brands like Harman Kardon, Sonos, Ultimate Ears, Netgem, Archos, Boulanger, and Sowee. France is now the 10th country to receive Echo devices after the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Japan, India, Ireland, and Canada.

Last year I wrote about a new wall mount for the Amazon Echo Dot that cleverly hung the smart speaker from its power adapter. The creator has just released an updated version of the wall mount, called The Essential Mount, that quite possibly perfects the hanging holder style. The new design is sleeker and more compact than it’s predecessor. It also now allows you to mount the Echo Dot in any direction, depending on your outlet’s orientation. It improves on the first design in multiple ways and yet is also significantly cheaper at $7.99 for one or $14.99 for a pair. The mount includes a custom short USB cable, so you just need to provide the Echo Dot and its stock power adapter.

Apart from cutting a hole in your wall, the new Spot USB Outlet Cover Plate is the cleanest way to mount an Amazon Echo Dot to your wall. This is the latest mount from Dot Genie, whose mounts have previously involved attaching the Echo Dot to its power adapter. This new mount replaces your power outlet’s cover plate with one that has a cradle for the Echo Dot molded into the side of the plate. The reason it’s such a clean setup is that it relies on a USB outlet for power, so it eliminates the large power adapter altogether. The USB power outlet is not included, so you’ll need to have or install your own for this holder to work. Dot Genie recommends this $12 USB outlet by Top-Greener, but most USB outlets capable of 2 Amps of power should work, since they all generally place the USB ports in the same place. The Spot USB Outlet Cover Plate is currently available for $7.99 in white or black and it comes with the small right-angle USB cable.

A few months ago I posted about The Spot, which lets you hang an Amazon Echo Dot from its power adapter. The creator of it has just released its successor, The Spot Deluxe, which improves on the concept in numerous ways. The new Spot Deluxe incorporates its own power adapter into the mount to greatly reduce the overall size of the device. It’s easily the most minimalistic outlet mount available. A nice touch is including a dummy ground plug on the included power adapter to improve the mount’s rigidity. This new improved mount also no longer blocks the adjacent outlet, which was a common complaint of the first version. The kit includes the mount, power adapter, and a perfectly sized tiny USB cable, providing everything you need to mount a 2nd Gen Echo Dot to a wall outlet. You can buy The Spot Deluxe for $14.99 from Amazon, which is a very reasonable price, considering it comes with its own power adapter.

Sonos is offering their customers a $25 discount on an Amazon Echo Dot, occording to The Verge. If you’re a Sonos customer, you should receive an email about the promotion sometime this week. The email will contain a unique code that can be used to purchase an Echo Dot for $24.99 and can only be used once to buy one Echo Dot. Read more ›

Ever since the Amazon Echo Dot was released, the most common question I’m asked about it is if there’s a way to connect an external speaker without disabling the internal speaker. This is because many owners want to use their nice sound system when listening to music through the Echo Dot, but don’t want to have to always turn on or unplug their external speakers when asking Alexa a quick question or request. I set out to find a solution to this common gripe and here’s what I came up with. Read more ›